Yeah, I know, as Cher from "Clueless" would say "that's way harsh." But come on. Where was the stirring storyline Sunday? Where was the vibe that this tournament has spoiled us with January after January?

Tiger Woods, the most magnetic golfer to ever fix a divot, didn't make the 54-hole cut. Phil Mickelson, San Diego's most high-profile sportsman, backed out due to back pain.

These two absences don't necessarily condemn a golf tournament's appeal, but if they occur, it usually requires an understudy to steal the show.

Didn't happen Sunday. Although there were possibilities...

When the final round began, 20-year-old Jordan Spieth was one stroke off the lead and within reach of becoming the youngest golfer to ever win two PGA Tour events. Charismatic, competitive, and possessing the kind of fire you'd expect from a Texas Longhorn, Spieth had the potential to send a million watts of voltage through the crowd with a back-nine charge.

The kid was poised. The kid was positioned.

The kid finished in a tie for 19th.

But that's OK. There was also Pat Perez -- the Torrey Pines High graduate looking for a win on his home course.

Perez played Torrey like a bull-rider all week and the course never managed to buck him. He started Sunday two strokes off the lead before climbing into a tie for first. Could have been a wonderful tale. Could have been a lifetime memory for him and his caddie, Mike Hartford, who's known Pat since his youth.

And even though Perez bogeyed 16, it just would have made 18 all the more dramatic if he could somehow muster an eagle on the par-5.

He laid up. Finished tied for second.

Don't feel bad, Torrey. Don't frown, Farmers Open.

You've given us so many wonderful champions and signature moments that we've become entitled. Tiger's won this tourney seven times. Phil has taken it three times. Bubba Watson, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Davis Love III have also each been crowned here within the last two decades.

That's why it was so mystifying to look atop the leaderboard toward the tournament's tail end.

Choi, K.

DeLaet, G.

Leishman, M.

Stallings, S.

MacKenzie, W.

Seriously? Who were those guys? You couldn't tell if it was a PGA Tournament or Ms. Jenkins' fifth-grade roll sheet.

But there was one last hope.

At one point on the day, there were so many players at 8-under and 7-under, that a five, six, even seven-man playoff seemed possible.

Could you have imagined that? Would a half-dozen golfers playing for the championship in a sudden-death format not have been a suitable understudy?

Yes. It would have been. It would have been awesome.

But there was one problem (picture Jerry Seinfeld greeting Newman). Stallings!

Oh, I suppose it's not all that bad. Stallings seems like a good dude with an interesting backstory and a commitment to excellence that makes him worthy of this win.

It was kind of funny, though. After his post-round interview with the media, Stallings failed to remember his championship trophy while walking out of the press tent.